Theodore (Kazanov)

Metropolitan Theodore (, secular name Nikolai Lvovich Kazanov, ; born 10 July 1973), is a Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church. He is the archbishop of Volgograd Oblast and holds the title of "Metropolitan of Volgograd and Kamyshin".

Early life Kazanov was born in 1973 to a family of employees in the Soviet city of Yaroslavl.

Academic career In 1988, he graduated from the 8th grade of secondary school No. 33 of the city of Yaroslavl and entered the Yaroslavl College of Railway Transport with a degree in Automation - Telemechanics. In 1992, after graduating from college, he entered the Yaroslavl Polytechnic Institute, which in 1997 he would graduate with a degree in Automobiles and Automotive Economy. The next day on 25 December in the Church of All Saints of the Patriarchal and Synodal residences in the Danilov Monastery, of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga elevated him to the rank of Archimandrite.

On 26 December 2015, in the Throne Hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, archimandrite Theodore was officially nominated to be the next Bishop of Pereslavl and Uglich.

On 27 December 2015, in the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Yasenevo, the consecration where Theodore became Bishop of Pereslavl and Uglich took place, performed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga, Metropolitan of Yaroslavl and Rostov, Metropolitan Cyril (Nakonechny) of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, Bishop of Dmitrov, Bishop Benjamin (Likhomanov) of Rybinsk and Danilov, and Bishop of Voskresensk.

On 28 December 2018, by the decision of the Holy Synod, Theodore was appointed bishop of Volgograd and Kamyshin and head of the Volgograd Metropolis. As a result on 3 January 2019, Patriarch Kirill elevated Theadore to the rank of Metropolitan in a ceremony at the Patriarchal Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

On 26 February 2019 Theodore was included in the Public Chamber of the Volgograd Region after the early termination of powers of one of the members, Bishop of Gorodishchensky and vicar of the Volgograd Diocese Andrei Igumnov.

Theodore was both praised and criticized for his response to the 2020 coronavirus, implementing many safety precautions that were recommended but not following these restrictions himself and not cancelling Easter services.